Music That Shaped Me

I grew up with music, John Denver, the Carpenters, Johnny Cash, and Kenny Rogers. I listened to the Eagles, Boston and Foreigner, Creedence Clearwater, and the Beatles. There was always something playing on our big console record player. I remember the Partridge Family, the Monkees, and the Beach Boys. My playlist would probably include music from this generation to start with.

My life changed dramatically after that. My parents divorced, I moved from small-town USA to what to me was a huge city, my mother remarried and then divorced for the second time, and I was attending a Jr. High that was full of strangers. I survived that time and moved into the 80’s, High School, my mother marrying again, and moving once more. Music became my emotional outlet.

My personal love for music began in High School when I was invited to the biggest MTV party of the century, the premier of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video. This was back in the day when MTV was really about music videos, and the videos told stories. All my friends gathered to watch it, I remember it so well. It was the beginning of a generational trend. MTV, music videos, dances, and parties, the best of the 80’s.

We used to have dances every Friday night at our local Recreation Center. Everything from Prince to Rush would play and we would dance all night. You never missed one, and you enjoyed every minute while you were there. Large speakers, at each corner, the DJ playing song after song, and everyone just dancing in one big mosh pit. We were alive and happy and, free. There was something about the music in the 80’s that was just felt that way, free.

Of course, back then you had to create your own mixed tape (what is now called a playlist) with a cassette player. We would painstakingly wait for our favorite song to play on the radio, and then record them one by one until we filled the cassette. Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” and “Raspberry Beret” were always on my lists, as well as “Come on Eilene” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners and “I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.

The music of my High School years was so diverse. When you look at the top 100 songs it ranges from KC and the Sunshine Band to Phil Collins, to Bon Jovi, to Guns and Roses. And we loved it all. I will never watch a football game without wanting to sing “Another One Bites the Dust” or “We will Rock You” by Queen.

Music brought my friends together. We would sing “Down Under” from Men at work, and “The Safety Dance” from Men without Hats (funny both were “Men” groups). The girls would sing Madonna’s “Material Girl” while the guys would be singing “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey.

Today If I was to recreate a playlist it would span three generations, from the 60’s-80’s. It would contain songs like “Can’t buy me love” by the Beatles, “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees, and “The Long Run” by the Eagles, and Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater. This is a sampling of my youth. I would then add “Bridge over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel, “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John, “A Horse with No Name” by America, “Le Freak” by Chic, and of course the soundtrack from Grease. And then we enter the 80’s and I add “Take on Me” by A-ha, “Hungry Like the Wolf” Duran Duran, “Free Fallin’” Tom Petty, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” Tears for Fears, along with the others I listed above.

Music can define us, save us, or motivate us. For me during my teenage years, I think it freed us.